West Long Branch, NJ -  Monmouth University is pleased to announce that the Simon String Quartet and colleagues will again present three free classical concerts as part of its Summer String-In workshop.

The Simon String Quartet (Fiona Simon and Sebu Sirinian, violins; Lisa Suslowicz, viola; David Bakamjian, cello) is “a special group of four seasoned performers whose passion for chamber music infuses their collaboration with energy and dynamism.”  Led by Fiona Simon, a member of the New York Philharmonic, its members each combine careers in chamber music and orchestras, and as soloists and teachers.  Although currently based in New York, where they individually perform with some of the most distinguished ensembles in the area, their performing careers have taken them to many different parts of the world. 

The Summer String-In, now in its seventh year, is an intensive week-long music workshop for adult amateur string players that takes place on the campus of Monmouth University. 

On Wednesday, August 1 at 8 p.m., they will be joined by other Summer String-In faculty members – violist Kimberly Foster-Wallace and cellist Joseph Kimura – to play a charming quintet by Luigi Boccherini, the passionate String Sextet from the opera “Capriccio” by Richard Strauss, and the Sextet in G Major by Johannes Brahms.

On Thursday, August 2 at 8 p.m., the Simon Quartet will perform Cherubini’s charismatic Quartet in D Minor, Villa-Lobos’s Quartet No. 6 (his most Brazilian sounding), and Dvorak’s  rich final  Quartet, in Ab Major, Opus 105.

On Friday, August 3, a pre-dinner concert at 5 p.m. will include acclaimed harpsichordist and Summer String-In faculty member Rebecca Pechefsky in Baroque masterpieces by Bach, Vivaldi, and Telemann.